Pennsylvania primaries 2024: Lee and Fitzpatrick survive, matchups set for November

538 tracked congressional and downballot primary races in the Keystone State.

Pennsylvania is already in the thick of campaign season for November's presidential and U.S. Senate races, but on April 23, Democrats and Republicans in the Keystone State chose their candidates in a slate of other consequential races down the ballot this fall.

Among the key races to watch: a couple of incumbent House members — progressive Democrat Summer Lee and moderate Republican Brian Fitzpatrick — both fended off challengers from their right, and ballots are now set for a few other consequential contests that could help determine control of the House next year. Plus, some key battle lines for control of the state government in November are set, with the parties finalizing their candidates for attorney general, auditor, treasurer and both chambers of the state legislature.

538 reporters and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.


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A final check-in on female candidates

All of today's congressional primary contests where women were running have been projected, according to ABC News. There aren't too many surprises, here. In most places where Democratic women lost, another woman won (e.g. Summer Lee fended off Bhavini Patel in the 12th; Janelle Stelson prevailed over Shamaine Daniels in the 10th). The exception is Tracey Gordon who was mounting a challenge to Democratic incumbent Dwight Evans in the 3rd. For the GOP, in the 7th, Maria Montero would've advanced to a competitive November race, but failed to win. In the 5th, Alfeia Goodwin was uncontested, but she will face an uphill battle in that blue district.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor


Final check-in with anti-abortion Republicans

Tonight I've been tracking anti-abortion Republicans, and there was one notable loss: Houck, a far-right anti-abortion activist, lost to moderate incumbent Fitzpatrick. In most of the other races, anti-abortion Republicans ran unopposed, and in Pennsylvania's 7th, all three Republican primary candidates were on our list. As Kaleigh noted, Mackenzie is the projected winner in that race to take on Wild in what's expected to be one of the most competitive House races this fall.

—Monica Potts, 538


Answer: It was B!

Meredith called it with the Matty Healy reference wrapped in a namedrop of "The Starting Line" (who subsequently thanked T Swift for the shoutout). In her song “The Black Dog,” Swift sings about an ex, asking how he can not miss her when in a pub and somebody plays "The Starting Line," but "she’s too young to know this song.” That said, Swift has dropped a political reference or two before, though more general. She uses the term “also ran” on this latest album and has the cutting line “did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman?” in “Anti-Hero,” her big single from her last album.

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538


Answer: No idea, but politics?

For kicks, I'll guess D, Kaleigh. If the song is about corruption, Fumo would be a good reference: In 2009, he was convicted of 137 corruption counts for various schemes, defrauding various institutions and obstruction of justice.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538


Can a hard-right anti-abortion activist take on the GOP's moderate posterboy?

In Bucks County, just outside Philadelphia, steadfast moderate Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is facing a primary challenge from the right for his seat in the 1st District. Mark Houck is an anti-abortion activist and head of a nonprofit ministry group for Catholic men who made a name for himself as a bit of an anti-abortion martyr when he was charged with assault (but found not guilty) after shoving a 72-year-old clinic volunteer in 2021 while protesting outside a Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia. Fitzpatrick was first elected to Congress in 2016, succeeding his brother (the late former Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick). He's faced a primary challenger in every election since, but has always triumphed.

Fitzpatrick has made a reputation for himself locally and on the Hill as a moderate who keeps his distance from the MAGA right. He's got a track record of bipartisanship and moderate policy stances in Congress and refused to endorse Doug Mastriano, the GOP's far-right nominee for governor in 2022. He even snubbed Trump's visit to Bucks County earlier this month. His position on abortion has been a bit less clear — there's no mention of abortion on his reelection campaign website — though he has drawn ire from abortion rights groups. He's certainly no culture warrior like Houck, whose organization opposes "same-sex attraction disorders" and pornography, and works to shut down "sexually oriented businesses."

But whoever wins this primary isn't necessarily a shoe-in for the seat. Fitzpatrick or Houck will be going up against Democrat Ashley Ehasz. Fitzpatrick defeated Ehasz in 2022 by 10 percentage points, but the area is purple and shows signs of shifting blue — Biden won the district in 2020, and Democrats swept all five seats up for grabs in a recent local school board election. Fitzpatrick is the lone Republican in the districts surrounding Philadelphia, though his is the whitest of those collar counties and the conservative areas of the county are increasingly polarized. That could mean Fitzpatrick faces serious competition from Houck in the party primary, but Houck's far-right leanings could tilt the general election contest toward Democrats if he makes the ballot in November.

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538